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Lieutenant Commander
Real World Definition In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, lieutenant commander (LCDR) is a junior officer rank, with the pay grade of O-4. Lieutenant commander ranks above lieutenant and below commander. Lieutenant commander is equivalent to the rank of major in the other uniformed services. While the gold oak leaf collar insignia worn by United States Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps Majors is also worn by lieutenant commanders, they also wear on various uniforms the two medium and one narrow sleeve and shoulder braid stripe insignia like their counterparts in the Royal Navy, though with a specialty insignia instead of a loop. In this illustration, the inverted star of a line officer is used. In both the US Navy and US Coast Guard, the three classes of commissioned officers: flag, senior, and junior differ slightly from their Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force counterparts of General, Field Grade, and Company Grade. In the Navy and Coast Guard, the lieutenant commander is the most senior of the junior officer ranks. While a lieutenant commander is paid the same as a major with the same years of service, he or she does not rate the same privileges. In the land and air forces, a major rates better billeting, housing, or berthing than a captain (O-3). The Major's accommodations and privileges are of the same class as a Lieutenant Colonel's and Colonel's. A Lieutenant Commander's is not the same as that of a Commander's or Captain's. The most visible sign is the lack of gold leaves on the brim of the combination cover (or peaked hat). In both the Coast Guard and Navy, the peak is plain patent leather. In the land and air forces, respectively, a Major's peak has gold leaves or silver clouds upon it. In US Naval Aviation, this difference shows up occasionally in two areas, on board aircraft carriers and in flight training. On US Navy aircraft carriers, Marine Corps Majors with embarked aviation units are assigned senior officer single occupancy staterooms when they are available, while lieutenant commanders are assigned to either two or four man staterooms, but rarely to the 8 man "JO Jungles." In flight training, Air Force and Marine Majors on Navy bases rate senior officer housing. Definition in the Star Trek Universe History A traditional naval rank, lieutenant commander was once used in the old navies of Earth, among them the United States Navy and the Royal Navy. In these organizations, a lieutenant commander was a grade between the lieutenant and commander grades with the rank equivalent to a major in the marine or ground forces. By the 22nd century, lieutenant commander had apparently become defunct and was not used in the Earth Starfleet. A century later, in the early 2260s, Lieutenant Commander was being used by the Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets. The insignia was at first the same as that of lieutenant, but by 2266 had developed into its own design. In Starfleet During the 23rd century, certain lieutenant commanders holding high shipboard positions, such as that of first officer, were authorized to wear the full braid insignia of a commander while still retaining their rank of lieutenant commander. (TOS: "Court Martial"; TOS: "The Menagerie, Part I") In the 24th century Starfleet, lieutenant commander is an active rank with its close equivalents in alien militaries being the Cardassian rank of glinn and the Romulan rank of centurion. Lieutenant commanders normally serve as senior department heads, executive officers on smaller vessels, and in some cases as starship commanders. Lieutenant commanders Tom Markel, Jadzia Dax, and Piersall all held commanding officer postings. The rank of lieutenant commander is also know to have existed in parallel universes. The Terran Starfleet of the mirror universe was using this rank in 2155 (an example being T'Pol) and the rank was still being used in 2266. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly"; TOS: "Mirror, Mirror") Use of the rank in Star Trek: Second Fleet Online The rank of Lieutenant Commander in Star Trek: Second Fleet Online is frequently used on board starships and starbases. Members holding this rank would typically be holding Department Head positions, though it is not uncommon for members at this rank to hold First Officer positions. Lieutenant Commanders that have proven command abilities would be eligible to command Escort-type vessels. This rank is offered permanently in all divisions except Support Services and is offered provisionally in the divisions of Command, Operations-Engineering, Security-Tactical, Medical-Counseling, and Sciences. Members in ST: SFO Holding this Rank *'Val Callan' (Chief Engineering Officer, USS Indefatigable ''NCC-74624) *'Diego Guerrero''' (Provisional, Second Officer USS Indefatigable NCC-74624 *'Robert O'Neil' (Chief Medical Officer, USS Indefatigable NCC-74624) *'Charlotte Reese' (Chief Medical Officer, USS Indefatigable NCC-74624) *'Rho' (Provisional, First Officer, USS Gambit NCC-75013) Members in ST: SFO that Once Held this Rank and have been Either Promoted or Demoted *'Winston Cummings' (2363-2369, then promoted to Commander) *'Robert Garrett' (2367-2370, then promoted to Captain) *'Alexandra Preston '(2369-2370, then promoted to Commander) *'Samsara Steelman' (2370-2371, then promoted to Commander) Rank Insignia History Permanent Rank Insignia Provisional Rank Insignia Notes For the Original Series Movies Era (2279-2350) the divisions were further broken down then what they are today. For today's Operations-Engineering Division, they were broken up into Engineering / Helm (yellow) and Navigation / Communications (Silver). You will also note that the Sciences Division also uses the Silver color for their rank insignia. References *Real World Definition *Star Trek Definition Category:Second Fleet Online Rank Structure